May 1st, 2008
KYDOHS Director Visits West Kentucky For Security Assessment
(from left) Lt. Brent White, Director of Operations, KY State Police Post 1; Jerome Mansfield, USEC E.M.; Glenn Denton, Paducah Civic Leader; Chuck Geveden, Deputy Director/Chief Administrative Officer, DOHS; McCracken County Sheriff Jon Hayden; Cpt. Nathan Kent, Post Commander, KY State Police Post 1; Adam Edelen, Director, KY DOHS; Joe Beverly, U.S. Coast Guard; Amy Lynn DeGarmo, Protective Services/Critical Infrastructure/Buffer Zones, DOHS; Lori King, Area 1 Manager and State Earthquake Program Manager, KY Division of Emergency Management/ Kentucky Dept. of Military Affairs; and April Tilford, USEC E.M.
Kentucky Homeland
Security Director Adam Edelen spent Wednesday touring several western Kentucky
sites and collecting information on the best ways to protect the region from
terrorists, tornadoes and earthquakes.
Homeland Security already has protective measures implemented, but Edelen
said his visit was to ensure the plans are practical and effective. Edelen made
stops at the Paducah-McCracken County Riverport, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion
Plant, locks and dams, and the Calvert City chemical complex. It was his third
trip to Paducah since Gov. Steve Beshear appointed him in December.
“It’s important to see the sites that we are protecting,” Edelen said.
“There may be a need to refresh our security plans to reflect the changing
times.
“We distribute grant money in support of law enforcement, firefighters,
first responders and all the people in charge of saving lives. We want to be
sure they have the training and equipment to do their jobs.”
As an example, Edelen told the Paducah Rotary Club that weather alert radios
do not work in Frankfort, a problem that can be fixed for about $40,000.
Edelen said the state’s Homeland Security office has allocated $140 million
since 2004 without a strategic plan, which he is developing. That’s why
Beshear appointed a businessman to run Homeland Security, Edelen said.
Left to Right: Sheriff Hayden, Dir. Edelen, & State Rep. Will Coursey
Edelen was an executive with Thomas & King Inc. in Lexington, which manages Applebee’s restaurants.
The Paducah riverport received a $1 million grant in 2004 to upgrade security. Director Ken Canter said he briefed Edelen on the how the money was spent before the security director toured parts of the facility overlooking the Tennessee River.
One million tons of cargo is delivered to and shipped from the riverport annually, Canter said. The riverport handles shipments by barge, rail and truck.
Edelen told Rotarians that he wants the Kentucky office to be a national leader in homeland security. He intends to expand an online warrant database statewide that will help eliminate the backlog of 300,000 unserved warrants, 20 percent of which are criminal warrants. The database is used in Louisville and will be expanded to another 15 cities this year before going statewide next year.
McCracken Chief Deputy Sheriff Mike Turnbow said the database will cut down the time it takes to verify warrants generated in other counties and those with incomplete information, such as the person’s birth date or address. There also have been problems in verifying warrants of people with common names, Turnbow said.
The problem in McCracken County has been with the out-of-county warrants, Turnbow said. The database could verify those within minutes, when it can take at least an hour without the database.
Edelen also is excited about the Kentucky Intelligence Fusion Center, which includes federal, state and local agencies sharing information in detecting, preventing and solving crimes.
“Not long ago, we busted a crime ring by using a computer,” Edelen said. “Every day we find folks that law enforcement is looking for, and it is 99 percent federally funded.”
Story © Paducah Sun 5/1/2008